Chapter 10: Escape.
Teyla stood in the middle of a wooden floor, surveying the destruction from the storm. The building that they had entered a little over twenty-four hours ago had been totally flattened. Many of the large trees which surrounded the village had been uprooted and flung great distances and there was barely a building left standing. The sky was still grey and overcast, the wind was still whistling through whatever trees that were still standing and it looked as if it could rain at any moment, so perhaps they should leave in case another storm came up. The thing that Teyla noticed the most though was the lack of wildlife. Before they had entered the storm shelter the air was rife with the sound of birds and wild beasts, but now there was nothing and it was very disconcerting.
When Teyla had exited the storm shelter, her heart had broken for the Henperians. She had no idea how often these ferocious storms raged on the planet and she hoped that the total annihilation of the village was a once in a lifetime event.
There'd only been one storm as bad as this on Athos and at the time she'd been devastated, Charin had lost everything. The Athosians very rarely built solid structures after that.
"Are you alright?" Ronon asked as he came up alongside of her and put his arm around her shoulders.
"Yes Ronon, I am fine. I was just remembering back to a storm on Athos when I was a teenage girl."
"I remember we used to have some pretty fierce storms on Sateda when I was a young boy, and once or twice my home was destroyed."
Teyla took one last look around the remains of the village, before turning to Ronon again, "I think it's about time we headed back to Atlantis and gave Rodney the gate addresses that we have found."
"Lorne's going to stay here and help tidy up, he wants us to tell Woolsey what is going on and if possible, send some others to help." Ronon told her.
Teyla sighed, "I agree that the Henperians need help to clear their village, but for now they can live underground. I will tell Woolsey that they need our help, but we still need to look for John, remember, who knows what is happening to him?
Ronon smiled at her and took her hand, "we'll find Sheppard we always do."
"Let us go now Ronon, as I fear that John desperately needs help?"
They walked off together in the direction of the gate, there were tree branches, building materials and whole tree trunks littering the ground. Sometimes when the path was blocked they had to backtrack up to a mile to take another path. It was extremely frustrating for Teyla, as she really wanted to get back to looking for John as soon as possible.
It took them an hour to get to the gate and Teyla was incredibly relieved. The storm had lasted twenty-four hours, so they had been away from Atlantis for nearly twenty-six hours and John had been taken twelve hours before that. To say that she was worried was an understatement.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
When John awoke again, he felt much better than he had before he'd gone to sleep, his body still ached, his eyesight was still blurry and he still felt a little hot, but the incredible agony that he had experienced had disappeared.
Looking over at the table, he realised that Dave was sitting in a chair and staring at him.
"Dave is there something wrong?"
"Umm…" Dave said still staring, "I think you have some pimples on your face, and you must have grown two inches overnight."
John raised his eyebrow, "really!" It was more of a statement than a question, "well I guess if I'm going to climb through that window, I'd better do it sooner rather than later."
"Are you sure you feel up to it John?" Dave asked with concern.
"Look Dave, I heard Klull tell you if Woolsey doesn't give him what he wants he will injure me further, so the sooner we get out of here the better. I don't feel too bad at the moment, so when we've eaten let's get out of here."
"I estimate you've been asleep for at least fourteen hours, you were running a high temperature last night, but the healer gave me some herbs, which thankfully have helped to reduce your fever. Very soon it will be light outside, so when we've eaten, I will be ready to go. I just wish there were another way though. I'm not sure our clothes are suitable for snow, but I agree with you, escape seems to be our only option right now."
"Don't worry Dave I have a plan on how we can get some warm clothes."
"Do I want to know?" Dave asked, before he started to stare at him again.
"Just follow my lead. Oh, and we've run out of firewood, haven't we?"
John knew that there was still some firewood left, but they needed to somehow hide it, so that he could act like a scared cold child who needed warm clothes. He was really beginning to tire of this game, but until he could get back to Atlantis, he had to make do. Dave was a civilian and he was a soldier, so therefore Dave needed protecting at all costs.
Before they had a chance to discuss things further, Klull entered the room with the healer, "John it is good to see that you're feeling better this morning?"
Right time to put my plan into action, John thought wrapping his arms around his chest. "I'm freezing, we've run out of firewood and we have hardly any clothes on?" He said and he was relieved to see that Dave had hidden the last few pieces of firewood.
"Let me look you over son," the healer said approaching him.
"I'm fine!" John stated forcefully, hiding behind Dave.
"Let him have a look at you kid? I can't afford for anything to happen to you!" Klull growled, before making a grab at him.
John hid further behind Dave and he was relieved when Dave stood up for him, "if my son says he's fine, he is fine. Now can you please get us some warm clothes, because I think that it is actually getting colder outside and seeing as the window doesn't have any glass in it, the heat doesn't stay in this room for very long!"
John peered out from behind his brother and stared at Klull, hoping that he would give them some warm clothes. It was definitely getting colder in here, even with the fire going, so he didn't think that it was too much to ask.
Klull glared at him and John wondered what he had against kids, "I will get you both some warmer clothes and if you won't have the healer check your son over, he can return to the village, but I will not call him again."
"Please leave us with some food and find us some warm clothes, so that we can enjoy sometime together before you injure my son. I don't believe that Woolsey will give you what you want, so you seriously need to consider if you are going to hurt an innocent child." Dave said and John could sense that he was trying to appeal to whatever humanity Klull may have.
"I will get you some clothes and food, but the plan still stands, if Woolsey doesn't give me what I want, I may or may not harm the child, I haven't decided yet."
John watched Klull leave the room and once he was sure that he was gone, he turned to Dave, "I still think we need to get out of here as soon as possible, I don't really trust Klull."
"Yeah, I totally agree with you, but what has happened to this guy, so that he would consider hurting a child."
Some of Klull's buddies returned a few minutes later with some extra clothing and some bowls of food. They put the food on the table and threw the clothes on the bed. John watched them with interest, he had no idea why these men were here, but they obviously thought that they owed Klull something.
Once he was sure that they were gone he turned to his brother, "hey Dave, do you have any idea which way the stargate is, because when we came here, I was unconscious?" He asked wondering if they managed to get out of the building would they have any hope of getting of the planet.
"Yeah, I have a vague idea, which direction we should be heading, I tried to take note of the way when they brought us here."
"Well, I guess that's all we've got right now, so I guess I'll eat whatever muck they've left us with, I'm probably going to need it." John answered with a shrug of his shoulders.
Sitting down at the table opposite Dave, he looked at the food in the bowl in front of him; it appeared to be some kind of oatmeal. Not the best food to eat, but at least it was warm.
His body still ached, he had a headache, and he could have sworn that his vision seemed to be getting blurrier. He also knew that if they were going to escape, now was the time to do it.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Rodney sat in Woolsey's office along with Teyla and Ronon. He was relieved that they had returned from the Henperian home world in one piece, but he wasn't sure that the information that they had found out was going to be very helpful.
"So, Dr McKay, what you are telling me is that if John does not get help soon, he may die?" Teyla asked interrupting his thoughts.
"Or he may be extremely sick, or he may have no problems at all in growing up." Rodney informed her and he shuddered when he saw the sadness and confusion in her eyes.
"Well, what do we do next?" Teyla asked looking at Woolsey for some guidance.
"I would like Dr McKay to see if there are any matches between the addresses that Dr Zelenka has pulled from the DHD on WVE-580 and the list of addresses that you brought back from the Henperian home world. If there are any matches you may then go on a rescue mission." Woolsey stated, looking at her and Ronon.
"I'm ready to go now," Ronon mumbled, before getting to his feet.
Rodney felt incredibly frustrated as he answered, "There's no point in heading off now Conon, we've absolutely no idea what planet their on. Give Zelenka some time to match up the gate addresses."
"I asked you to do it Dr McKay!" Woolsey stated firmly.
"I'm sorry Mr Woolsey, but I still need to be researching a way to help Sheppard when we get him back and right now, I'm wondering what the hell I'm doing here!" Rodney stated equally as forcefully.
"Well, I guess you better get back to it then, Dr McKay," Woolsey said in a much gentler tone. "Can you please hand the list of gate addresses that the Henperians have supplied us with to Dr Zelenka."
"I'll get right on it. Can I go now?" Rodney asked as politely as possible, considering he really wanted to get back to his important work.
Woolsey stood up and looked around the room, "you all know what you have to do, so you're all dismissed."
"At last," Rodney muttered as he left the office. His immediate thought was to head straight to his lab and get to work, he knew that he'd eaten recently, so a cup of coffee should be enough to keep him going until Jennifer came to hassle him again.
Arriving in his lab a few minutes later he was happy to see that Zelenka was already there, so he handed him the list of addresses that Ronon and Teyla had procured off of the Henperians and immediately got to work.
"What have you given this to me for Rodney?" Zelenka asked, and there was obviously confusion in his voice.
Rodney looked up from his computer and glared at him, "you are supposed to check this list of addresses against the addresses we pulled from the DHD on WVE-580 and see if there's any matches. If there is make a list to give to Woolsey."
"I will get right on in then."
"Thanks," Rodney said with as much patience as he could muster, before looking back at his computer and getting on with his work.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
John stood on the table looking at the small window he was expected to climb through, he knew that it was going to be a tight fit especially with the extra clothing that he had on. But he really didn't have much choice, as this was the only way to escape from their captors.
Klull had left them an extra pullover each, a woollen hat, and some woollen gloves. They probably weren't the best things for going out in the snow, but for now it was all that they had.
The idea was for John to crawl through the window and head out to the door of the building to see if he could find a way to unlock it, so that Dave could get out. Then they would walk to the stargate together and head to the alpha site and hope that there were Atlantis soldiers there that had an IDC, so that they could get back to Atlantis. It was all easier said than done though, because it had started to snow outside again.
John had absolutely no idea how he was going to pull this off, because his vision seemed to be getting blurrier by the minute, not the mention he had a headache and his whole body still ached. His right shoulder and right leg were feeling incredibly weak at the moment as well. I guess that's what comes from being thrown down the stairs repeatedly, he thought, before taking a deep breath and trying to prepare himself for what was to come.
"Are you ready John?" Dave asked from beside the table.
"Yeah, I guess I'm as ready as I'll ever be, but you may need to give me a boost, so that I can actually reach the window."
"Now problems," Dave said clasping his hands so that John could use them as a step up.
"Hear goes," he muttered more to himself than Dave.
He put his foot in Dave's clasped hand and pushed himself up, so that he managed to grab the window and pull himself up, until he was kneeling on the small sill, "Okay Dave, hopefully I'll see you in a few minutes."
Taking one last look at Dave below, he climbed through the window and jumped to the ground below, luckily the ground was covered in white powdery snow; otherwise it could have been a hard landing.
He slowly circled the building, making sure that there was no-one else around and what he found was that it was a small building with only one steel door, must have been the door that Dave found the other night. The door had a steel bolt across it with a padlock locking the door, It, can't possibly be that easy, he thought looking around trying to find something to break, or pick the padlock with.
Scanning the area for a few minutes, he got the shock of his life when he found what looked like a gun lying on the floor a few inches away from where he was standing. Could these idiots be so stupid? Much to his delight, it was a weapon, a ridiculously small weapon, but it would probably be enough to shoot the door lock.
He took of his gloves and picked up the weapon. Closing his eyes, his small fingers pulled the trigger; he was delighted to find that it actually worked and broke the lock. He had no idea why they had left a gun lying in the snow; could it have been a trap? He sure hoped not.
Checking the gun he was happy to see that there were still a couple of bullets left. Quietly he opened the door and began to cautiously walk down the passageway and there appeared to be no-one around. He couldn't believe his luck; they may actually get out of this one without too many problems.
Finally he reached the room that Dave was in and he opened it slowly and he was horrified by what he saw, Klull had a gun pointed at Dave's head.
"Ah kid, I see you're back, so if you kindly put the gun down and come in here, I will leave your father alone."
"I don't think so," John answered and he knew that he had to protect Dave at all costs.
"Come on kid put the gun down, I don't think you're going to hurt me are you?" Klull asked in a condescending tone and it really annoyed John. He was sick of acting like a child and it was about time he started acting like a soldier. He knew that despite his blurry vision he was still an excellent shot, so he had to take a chance.
John looked at Dave, to try and give him a signal. Much to his relief Dave let himself go weak at the knees, giving John the chance to shoot Klull in the shoulder, which caused him to let go of Dave. John grabbed Dave's hand and started to run towards the door at the end of the passageway, hoping that Klull's men weren't close by.
They kept on running and John knew that Klull wouldn't be far behind them. The shot that he'd fired had only caused a flesh wound, so they had to keep running until they reached the tree line that he had spotted in the distance and then maybe they could find a place to hide.
"John, how much longer do we have to keep running?" Dave asked him and it was obvious that he was out of breath.
"We need to keep running until we reach the tree line in the distance and then maybe we can find a place to hide," John told him as they exited the building.
"But you shot Klull, surely that should slow him down."
"It's only a flesh wound, so either he'll be onto us or his men will be, so just keep running." John said as he grabbed his brother's hand and began to drag him across the clearing towards the trees.
John's head was pounding, his body still ached and his vision seemed to be getting even blurrier, but he knew that he had to keep going and get Dave to safety.
They must have been running for about five minutes and they still hadn't reached the woods, the snow was deep under foot and it was beginning to snow heavily, which made it slow going, but they still kept on running. John took a quick glance behind him and realised that two of Klull's men were chasing him, or he was pretty sure the blobs behind them were people; his eyesight was shot to pieces, so he couldn't tell for sure. Luckily they didn't seem to be gaining on them, so if they could manage to find a hiding place they would stand a chance.
All of a sudden John's right leg gave way and he stumbled, but luckily Dave was holding his hand and he managed to drag him up, so that they could keep running.
Eventually they reached the trees and John began to look for a place to hide. It seemed that Klull's men had lost ground, so that gave them a little more time to find a hiding place.
Dave held his hand closer, which was probably a good thing, because he didn't feel very well, "John you appear to be slowing down, I think there's a hollow in the tree trunk up ahead, perhaps we can hide there until it's clear?"
"The sooner the better," John panted feeling totally exhausted and out of breath.
A few feet from the hollow trunk John collapsed and Dave caught him before he hit the ground. Dave carried him the rest of the way to their hiding place. He was totally embarrassed by the fact that his brother was carrying him again, but for now there was nothing he could do about it.
He was relieved when Dave laid him inside the hollow tree, at least he could have a rest now. Or perhaps he should keep watch, so that Dave could have a sleep.
"John how about you rest and I'll keep first watch?" Dave suggested with a smile, which made him feel strangely comforted.
"Thanks Dave I appreciate it."
He handed Dave the gun and managed to put his woollen gloves back on, before he lay down and closed his eyes, knowing that he couldn't sleep for long. Despite the fact that it felt a little warmer in their hiding place, he still might freeze to death. How he longed to be back in Atlantis in the infirmary right now. He was completely exhausted and his body had a deep down ache that only a weeks' worth of sleep could fix.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Rodney watched as another jumper came through the gate and it was obvious that they hadn't found John and Dave. Zelenka had found ten gate addresses from the list the Henperians had given them, which matched the addresses dialled from WVE-580. They had done a thorough search of five.
Major Lorne had come back from the Henperian homeworld to help with the search, or so he had heard. He watched as Lorne came down the stairs from the jumper bay, "I take it, that planet number five was a total bust."
"Yeah, there was absolutely nothing but sand, we scanned for John's transmitter and we found nothing. I think I'm going to grab a bite to eat before we go out again."
"But you can't Sheppard is out there and he needs our help, he could be in agony or even dead by now. He needs to be in the infirmary as soon as possible." Rodney ranted.
"I will get back to the search as soon as I've had a bite to eat." Lorne told him, before walking off.
Rodney looked at Teyla and Ronon who were coming towards him, "I'll fly the jumper if you go out again right now! He demanded.
"I am sorry Doctor McKay, but I must really have something to eat and check on Torren. I will get back to the search when I have had some rest then. Major Lorne and Ronon will be going back out in half an hours' time when they have eaten." Teyla informed him, while trying to stifle a yawn. "Please understand how hard this is for me and Torren, but I can assure you that John would not want any of us to neglect ourselves on his account."
Rodney nodded and turned to Ronon, "when you go out again can I come with you?"
"Sure McKay, but I thought you were looking for something to help Sheppard?"
"The only thing we can do for him is keep him comfortable and give him pain medication until he grows up again."
"Well in that case McKay, I'll see you in half an hour." Ronon said, before grabbing Teyla's hand and walking off.
Perhaps I'll go and have something to eat as well then; he thought when he realised that he was standing all alone at the bottom of the stairs to the jumper bay.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Dave sat and watched his brother sleep; he was really beginning to worry about him again. The snow had stopped for now and the sun had come out, but it was still cold and John was trembling again and he wasn't sure whether it was due to the fever or the cold.
The area around there hiding place still wasn't safe, because Klull and his buddies were still out searching for them. He knew at some point he would have to pick John up and make a run for it though, as he had no idea how much longer John would last without medical care.
A moan from beside him interrupted his thoughts, he knew that he needed to keep John quiet, so he leant as close to his ear as possible and whispered, "John you need to remain quiet, Klull's men are nearby."
He sat and watched his brother, hoping that he wouldn't make another sound, but unfortunately John didn't listen to him and moaned again before opening his eyes.
"Shh…" He whispered to his brother again.
When John spoke again his voice was in a state on panic, "Dave why can't I see?"
TBC…